


chains

by mlmdownworlder



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Abrupt Ending, Alec is a good boyfriend, Autistic Magnus Bane, Collars, Comfort, Confident Alec Lightwood, Dom/sub, Gentle Dom Alec Lightwood, Implied Sexual Content, Insecure Magnus Bane, Kind of a character study, M/M, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Magnus is Into Bondage, Magnus's layered heavy chain necklace, Magnus-centric, No Smut, Stimming, Sub Magnus Bane, Trust, and how textures are important?, and leather cuffs and chokers, and stuff, like yeah magnus doesn't need alec to take all of his clothes off but sometimes it's nice, meta about magnus wearing chain necklaces and bracelets, mostly just alec taking care of magnus and stuff, projection :)), some vague non-sexual bdsm?, this is a mess, this is really sub magnus lkgjfgh, to just let go, ye s., you know how weighted blankets are comfy and nice?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 02:21:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19122634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mlmdownworlder/pseuds/mlmdownworlder
Summary: Magnus and jewelry.





	chains

**Author's Note:**

> based on [this post](https://mlmdownworlder.tumblr.com/post/185419489575/lynne-monstr-look-at-the-layered-heavy-chains-of) and [this post.](https://autisticmagnusbabe.tumblr.com/post/184952931459/autistic-magnus-headcanon-5)

 

Magnus stared at his reflection, frozen in front of the mirror.

He was wearing a normal outfit, and the heavy chains of his necklace spilled over his chest. His wrists were encircled with similar chained jewelry, fingers laden with rings.

...Magnus liked wearing heavy jewelry and chokers that were tight around his neck.

He liked the comforting weight of the layered chains around his neck, on his collarbone, around his wrists and even forearms.

He liked the pressure, the constriction.

It felt nice. It was soothing. 

Especially when he got Alec to put it on in the morning--it was weirdly intimate. Standing mostly bare, and Alec a comforting presence behind him, draping the chained necklaces over his chest and then clasping it, fingers brushing the nape of his neck.

He would gently take his hands and slide bracelets onto him--sometimes heavy and metal, other times thick leather cuffs, always comfortable and fitting tightly--and even rings onto his fingers, kissing each knuckle. 

Sometimes he would wrap a choker around Magnus's neck--and on days where they stayed in private together, sometimes Magnus even requested a collar.

Magnus didn't quite remember when the tradition started, Alec putting on his jewelry in the mornings. He remembered asking Alec to put them on him, and Alec doing it, and then pressing a kiss below his ear. And then they'd just... kept doing it. Not every morning, not all the time, but when Magnus was feeling bad or just needed that extra comfort, the weight, he would ask Alec.

It was quiet, and nice, and Magnus loved how gentle Alec was with him, how carefully he treated both him and the jewelry.

Always gentle and firm, making him feel safe and cared for.

And wearing the heavy jewelry, he really did feel... safe. It gave him a strange, reassuring feeling, like he was grounded, like the feeling he had when Alec's hands were gently but firmly pressing into his skin.

It reminded him of his experiences with Alec in bed--Alec gently tying his wrists above his head and making love to him, whispering sweet things and just--taking care of him.

Magnus had spent so long taking care of other people that someone else taking care of him felt foreign... but welcome.

The cool, reassuring weight of the necklaces and bracelets kept him grounded all day, gave him something to fiddle with and run his fingers over when he needed something to keep his hands occupied. 

Sometimes he even wore jewelry on his hands--nothing that restricted their movement, but he liked to wear rings and hand flowers that left their cool weight on his hands. 

The leather and chains should have felt restrictive, but they didn't. They were reassuring, grounding. 

Magnus had taken to enchanting them, allowing his magic to flow through them until they had a latent sort of magic of their own. It was comforting to feel it tingling in the metal, keeping it cool to the touch, storing some extra energy in case he needed it.

He found ways to incorporate his jewelry into his life even more--little enchantments of protection, some acting as spare magic reserves--but all easily working as beautiful decoration (he had to look beautiful, of course, it was one of the only things about him people stayed for) stim toys (he needed that, too, needed small and less bothersome ways to stim, no loud fidget cubes or noticeable toys, just chains he could fiddle with and roll between his fingers) and that comforting, grounding weight.

It helped, especially after... what had happened, with the body swap. He felt grounded, reminded of who and where he was. They were comforting. 

(There was also something comforting, although he'd never admit it, about them being chains. 

Some days Magnus felt like a monster, a demon hidden in human skin, a hurricane and a supernova barely contained in a fragile form.

Some days he felt like he could burn the whole world if he wasn't tied down.

And those days, although the chains did nothing to truly bind him, it was almost comforting to have chains around his wrists.

Like he was protecting everyone else from himself.)

And at the end of the day, Alec often would smile and kiss him gently, remove each piece slowly and carefully, undress him and kiss him all over. 

Alec had a way of making Magnus feel so taken care of, so  _safe_ in a way he hadn't felt with many partners.

He knew when to back off and let Magnus be independent and take care of himself, but he also knew when to support Magnus. When Magnus just wanted to let go and be taken care for once.

He always seemed to know what Magnus needed--it wasn't perfect, of course, they had moments of miscommunication and mistakes, but Alec never failed to be there when Magnus needed him. He was a comforting, soothing presence, just as much if not more so than the heavy jewelry Magnus favored.

Magnus was so focused on staring at the chained necklaces on his reflection he didn't notice Alec behind him until his warm arms wound around Magnus's waist from behind, leaning in to press a kiss on Magnus's cheek from behind. 

His eyes met Alec's in the mirror, and he smiled, leaning back into Alec a little. "Hello, Alexander."

"Hey, sweetheart," Alec said. "Food is here. Do you wanna watch a movie?"

Magnus inhaled, eyes closing as he relished the warmth of Alec's arms around him. "That sounds great," he said sincerely. "But first, would you mind--?" 

He lifted a finger in a casual gesture, flicking his fingers as if to show off the rings.

Alec nuzzled against him again, pressing another kiss to his jaw. "I'd be happy to," he said.

 

And that night, when Magnus lay snuggled in Alec's arms and bare of any makeup or jewelry at all, he thought maybe there were times when he didn't need it.

He felt grounded with Alec. He felt protected. Comforted. Beautiful. He felt--contained, but in a good way.

And Alec certainly didn't mind him stimming more "noticeably".  

Most days, Magnus liked to wear his jewelry to feel good. To feel all of those things.

But in Alec's arms, he didn't need it.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> hand flowers (also known as slave bracelets) are like those hand chains that connect to rings and bracelets and stuff? magnus wears one when they're summoning the demon in season one and i LOVE THEM.


End file.
